


Leave It All Behind

by thatavatargrl



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 16:39:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3657579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatavatargrl/pseuds/thatavatargrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annabeth Chase has something she needs to tell Percy Jackson-she's leaving their town, and she might never see him again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave It All Behind

Annabeth pulled into the parking lot of the swimming pool. Percy's swimming pool. The one he swims in. In a speedo. A speedo that Annabeth could hardly believe had been designed to decrease resistance in the water and not to make her very nervous. About seeing Percy. In the aforementioned speedo. Ugh, she couldn't focus on that. She turned left into the nearest parking space, stopped the car, and breathed out. She shook her hands, trying to release all her pent up nervousness. Breathe in, breathe out. She had read somewhere that breathing kept you in the moment, it calmed you, and helped you focus. That's what she needed, she needed more oxygen to go to her brain, so she could have the common sense that there was no reason to be nervous about this situation. How may times had she talked to Percy before? How many times had she visited him at his pool, to cheer him on at some meet or to meet up with him after practice? In the seven years she had known him, she had to have gone to his pool probably over a hundred times. This was no different. Yes it is, she thought back to herself, it's only the most important thing that's happened to me in my entire life, she thought. But there was no time to think about it. She just had to go and see him, to tell him.

 

Climbing out of the car, she slammed the door and started toward the familiar pool. It was a shame she would be leaving this town, leaving it for who knows how long. This little suburb of NYC, that she had known for the majority of her life. The town she had walked the streets of, had cried in and laughed in. It was too bittersweet to express in words, which would make it so much harder to tell Percy. Gods, how would she tell Percy?!? The speech she had planned seemed stupid and pretentious and fake as she went through it in her mind. Talking about how it was, "for the best," and how he would, "move on without her and it would be okay," it all seemed fake. Fake and wrong. It wouldn't be okay. How could it be okay? She would leave all her best friends behind to some distant unknown, and who knows what would happen. She would abandon all of them for her own dreams. It was selfish. It was wrong. How could she do this to all of them? How could she do this to Percy?

 

Percy Jackson was some idiot who she went to summer camp with, and when he nearly killed himself trying to defend some kids from a bull that had raged into camp, she ended up stuck caring for him in her job as a volunteer who helped out at the nurse. They ended up paired up together as "buddies" for the rest of camp, a fact of which she was resentful of at first, but she grew to like him. They hung out, voluntarily after that. When her dad moved to NYC, she begged him to move to the area of that camp. And wouldn't you know it, she found herself going to the same school as Percy Jackson. Their friendship grew, and even after their friend group grew, they were always the closest. The best friends, and maybe...something more. But nothing had ever happened, and as it looked right now, maybe nothing ever would.

 

Her head spun, and she felt dizzy. Maybe she better head back to the car, to lie down. Maybe she should drive away, and never tell anyone before she left. She would just be gone, and everyone would wonder, "Hey, what ever happened to Annabeth Chase?" She had just decided to turn around and go home when she heard a voice cry out, "Yo Annabeth! What's up, I didn't know you would be here!"

Annabeth turned around, she felt like she was going to be sick. She managed a weak, "Hey." Thank god, he was in regular clothes, she didn't think she could manage this if she had to face his speedo, too. Percy engulfed her in a massive hug, which made her feel worse for what she had to do. She lingered in his arms, maybe longer than what was appropriate. But she needed assurance, and being with him gave her strength, despite the fact that he was the one that was stressing her out. She pulled herself away, and met those eyes of his, those gorgeous, sea green eyes. Breathe in, breathe out.

It all came at once when she decided to say it. "I got into MIT. Full ride scholarship." Her converses suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world at that moment, because that was all she could bear to look at. She couldn't bear to meet Percy's eyes.

"That's amazing!" he said, and Annabeth found the courage in his words to look at him. A mile-wide grin was spread across his face, and despite her worry, a small smile couldn't help but form on her's. "You must be so happy right now, are you going?"

"So, you aren't mad?" she said apprehensively.

"Of course not. Why would I be mad, this is your dream school! This is everything you've worked for for years!"

"But..." she said, "You'll be here, and I'll be so far away, in Boston... we won't get to hang out anymore, will we? We won't just be friends."

Percy kept his grin wide, but she saw a mischievous look in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Well, I guess it's now or never... I got into Boston University. They liked my theories about Swimming conditioning and I'm on a decent scholarship there."

Annabeth stared at him, mouth gaping. "You...you...you filled out applications without telling me?! I didn't even think you were going to college?! So you're going to Boston too?!?"

Percy smiled that sly grin of his. Waves of relief and joy washed over her, and she said it: "I love you, seaweed brain." She leaned up and kissed him, and he kissed back.

"I guess we won't be 'just friends' anymore," Percy said.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first ever fanfiction, so I hope you all liked it! Please comment and tell me what you think, and any constructive criticism would be helpful! Thanks for reading!


End file.
